Stella Dallas (rubystevens)

capra's most daring film was a box office disaster in 1933. it was denounced by women's groups and religious organizations in america and banned in the british empire for obliquely portraying an interracial love story between star barbara stanwyck and a chinese general (played by a swedish guy of course *eyeroll*) and it's criticism of missionary work in china. racist attitudes and pronouncements made by white christian missionaries made the film rather subversive. a fascinating film sadly stuck between it's progressive ideas and it's traditionally racist casting *note* someone has suggested to me that political correctness shouldn't be a criteria for judging films and that 'racist casting' may in fact be insisting actors only portray their own race. i must admit this is an interesting point of view. plz discuss :)

as a big fan of apocalyptica and the terminator franchise i was bound to watch this eventually. after putting it off for some time i thought i could approach with an open mind. sadly, as has been said elsewhere, the script is full of plot holes and silly dialogue. the two lead characters kept me interested enough to watch the whole thing somehow. but who the hell is moon bloodgood? send her back to maxim. and young kyle reese was almost as annoying as the kid in T2. good points: i liked the overall look of the film and the action scenes were well done, but i think terminator fans were hoping for more than a series of cool explosions. worst of all, the film doesn't advance the plot one bit! the corny ending pretty much leaves us where we started! so i'm left feeling like i've just wasted 2 hours of my life :( don't bother unless you're a completist or just love watching things blow up real good

my favorite movie, a mob epic and scorsese's masterpiece

the quintessential noir, a style that's had a huge influence on everyone from scorsese and tarantino to the coen brothers and david lynch, not to mention french new wave. robert mitchum gives his most perfect lethargic and world-weary performance